Chair.



J. F. WILMOT.

CHAIR.

APPLICATION HLED FEB.24.1913.

1,149,421. Patented Aug. 10, 1915.

COLUMBXA PLANOURAPH co., WAsNlNuToN, D. c,

sars (N nie,

i JOHN r. wILMor, or Dnrnorr, MioHIGAN.

i cHAIn.

`Specification of Letters Batent. i

Application file February 211, 1913. Serial No. 750,050.

To all whom '525 may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN F. VVILMOT, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Detroit, in the county of VVayne and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and i useful mprovements in Chairs, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein'to the accompanying drawings.

rhis invention relates to improvements in reclining chairs and more particularly to chairs of this class in which the back and seat portions are connected by suitable niechanism to movetogether. i A

An object of the invention is to provide simple and efiicient means whereby the seat is moved by a movement of the back and so connected-that the leverage of the back for moving the seat will be the greatest when the back is in upright position and will be decreasingly less as the back is turned downwardly, and conversely, whenthe seat is in raised position, it will exert the greatest leverage to raise the Aback which leverage will decrease as the back swings upwardly, thereby substantially maintaining a balance w between the seatand back when the chair is pointed out in the claims, referenceV being had to the accompainying drawings in rails 2 and 3 respectively.

in use and the back tilted. i o o further object of the invention is to provide certainV new a-nd useful featuresin the construction and arran'gement of parts, all as hereinafter more fully described and Figure 1 is a Vertical section through a chair embodying the .invention and, Fig. 2 a plan view thereof. i i, i

' In the drawings a suitable chair frame comprises side railspl and front 'and'back l-linge connected tothe front r ail is a seat frame and a back frame' is pivotally supported upon the chairfframe by means of a transverse rod 6 extending across the frame a short distance above the back rail 8 and adapted to be engaged by` suitable bearing members? on the back frame provided with' a 'seriesofhooks-to engage over the rod 6 and form a seriesof bearingsupon which'the back is adapted to turn.

The seat frame is hinge connected to the front rail by any suitable means such as two pairs of plates forminghinges,-one plate 8 of each pair being secured tothe inner face ofjthe frontrail and the other plate socket. I the lever le intermediate the endsof said w Tupper end in engagement with the inner side of the front bar of the seat frame.

The back frame 5 extends downwardlyi beyond its pivotal support upon the seat frame and is also provided withV downwardly extending arms or extensions 12, one at each side of the back adjacent Vto the side railsl 1 of the chair frame.A Pivotally attached to the lower 'end' of 'each arm 12 is a short' link 13 and this link is pivotally attached at its opposite end to the end of a lever 111 having a pivot bearing 15 at its opposite end carried by the adjacent side rail 1.' Said leveris formed with a slot 16 extending inward from one end to detachably engage the pivot pin 15, which pin extendsthrough the open end of the socket member 17: also secured to the rail 1' and having rearwardly diverging sides adapted to limit the swinging of the lever'withinthe A link 18 is pivotally attached to raeeaeea Aug; io, 1915. V

-1O of each pair of plates is secured to the lever and at its opposite end is pivotally i secured to 'the side of the seat frame 4 at a short Vdistance forwardly from the`rear end thereof. I

When Vthe parts are in the position shown in Fig. 1, 'a rearward tilting` of the back will, by reason of the link 18 cause the lever 14 to swing upwardly and forwardly, op-

Verating the toggleformed by said lever and the link 18 to raise the seat at its rear edge. A movement of the back thus causes a corresponding movement of theV seat frame and as the bar- 14 is -so positioned that it Vextends directly toward the pivot rod 6 when the backiis in 'upright position, said bar.

will be swung by a movement of the back,

forwardly and upwardly, 'thus decreasing 1 the leverage of the' back to operate the seat as the toggle straightens out and the back is turned rearwardly, and therefore when the back is in upright position and a person is seatedin the Chair and leaning against the back, the leverage of the back is the greatest at the time when the greatest proportion ofthe weight of the person is upon the seat,

o the seat and back.

and as the persons weight is gradually and partially shifted from the seat to the back by his leaning backward, theleverage of the back isproportionately decreased to give a balancedV efiect.` This balanced effect is secured regardless of the weight of the occu- Ipant of the chair asf'no-matter what his `weight may be substantiallyV the same pro- `portion of it is transferred from the seat to the back as he leans backward. In a. like manner, the power of the'seat to swing the back from an inclined to a Vertical position is aided byj the toggle formed by the lever 14 and link 13. o

To hold the back inan upright position when the chair is not in use and to cause it to come to that position when the occupant leaves it, a light coiled spring 19 is attached at one 'end to the seat frame 4 or to any other convenient moving part to eXert a pull when the back is tiltedbackward and cause thesame to come to an upright position overcoming the balanced condition of The lower end of the spring is attached to the cross rail 3 of the chair frame or to any other part thereof and is preferably connected to said frame by means of an arm 20 engaged with notches 21 in a bar 22 secured to said rail in a vertical position. p

For the purpose of shipping, cleaning or packing, the back and seat frames ;may be quickly and easily detached from the chair frame .by simply unhooking the spring 19, turning the button 11 and then lifting the back from engagement with the pivot rod 6 and raising the seat at its vrear end` sufficientlyoto .disengage ,the members Sand 10 ofthe hinges, theV levers 14 being pulled Vtheir pivot bearings 15. i

By securmg the bearing members 7 to the i back frame, the leverage of the back may be quickly and easily adjusted by raising or lowering-the back and engaging its bearing hooks with the fiXed bearing rod 6 on the seat frame, Vand thus the operation of the chair may be changed to suit the desire of theuser, the tilting of the back being made more or less easy as desired.

,A chair constructed as shown and embodying the features of the, invention not only gives a balanced adjustment for the seat back when m' use but also provides a very cheap and efiiclent construction in which the parts mav be readily fdetachedz 1. In a chair, the combination of a chair back frame.

fromtheir sockets out of engagement with frame, a seat frame pivotally connected near its forward end to the chair frame to have a limited upward and downward movement at its rear end, a back frame pivotally attached to the chair frame intermediate its its ends to the chair frame to have an eX- Vmove upwardly and downwardly at its rear end, a back frame plvoted intermediate 1ts ends upon the chair frame, and members operatively connecting the seat frame and the lower end portion ofl the back frame and forming toggle joint connections arranged to eXert anendwise pressure to increase the leverage of the seat frame in raising the 4. 'In a` chair, the combination of a chair frame, a seat frame pivotally connectedto' forming a toggle joint, a back frame pivf oted intermediate its'ends Vupon the chair frame and having its forwardly swinging lower end portion operativelyV connected ,with said membersyin. a plane below the horizontal plane of the pivotal connection of said members to the seat frame with said members so arranged that the toggle joint formedthereby will' exert a strong endwise pressure to assist the seat frame in its limited downward movement in'swinging the back frame upwardly. o o

5. In a chair, the combination of a chair frame, a seat frame, pivotally connected near its forward end to the chair frame and movable upwardly and downwardly Va limited distance at its rear end, a back frame pivotally attachedintermediate its ends to the chair frame, and pivotally operative means connecting the'chair frame and seat frame through a rearwardly and downwardly inclined member with the lower end w position of the back frame, the efiective power of the seat frame in 'swinging the lback frame npwardly is increased.

6. In a chair, the combination of a chair frame, a seat frame pivotally connected near its forward end to the chair frame and movable upwardly and downwardly at its rear end, a back frame piVota-lly attached intermediate its ends to the chair frame, a link pivotally attached to thelower end of'the back frame and eXtending upwardly and forwardly therefrom, and pivotal linkpconnections between said link and the chair frame and seat frame, whereby in a rear position of the back frame, weight on the seat frame operates the pivotal link connections to produce an endwise pressure thereof against the lower end of the back frame and swing` the upper end thereof upwardly.

7. In a chair, the combination of a chair' frame, a seat frame pivotally connected to the chair frame near 1ts forward part to move upwardly and downwardly at its rear end, ievers pivotally connected to the sdes of the chair frame at one end and extending upwardly and rearwardly from their pivt ota1 supports, links pivotally connected to the seat frame at its rear portion and extending rearwardiy and downwardly and pivotally connected at their lower end to the levers intermediate the ends of said levers, said levers and links together` forming toggle joints connecting the seat frame and chair frame to raise the seatfr'ame, a back frame pivotally supported intermediate its end vupon the chair frame with its lower end portion extending below the plane of the upper end of the lever, and links' 'pivotally connecting the lower end portion of the back frame with the rear end of said lever to form other toggle joint connections.

In testimony whereof I affiX my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN F. VILMOT. VVVitnesses:

LEWIS E. FLANDERS, ANNA M. DoRR.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0. 

